Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I understand your points and I understand why you are saying them.
I'm also stating, Miami is darn near becoming the next Detroit, that's how bleak things are here.
If this happens, I will have to move and find a new job. Whether it's here or Maine, it's not going to be easy. I certainly do not have visions in my head of the perfect life up there. I do, however, know that in some ways, it will be better.
For example, though I prefer to rent a house, I cannot pass up the opportunity to rent an apartment, (that allows my dogs), because many of them pay for hw/heat/water/sewer/trash and I just pay electric. And the price of a nice place is cheaper than the crappiest place I can find here.
In other words, to start out, I will have to down step, that's not a problem for me. But I can actually go get a minimum wage job, (not that I want one and yes of course I have experience that deserves me more..but I'll take whatever because I work...it's something until you find something better), and still afford to live.
I don't have bills. My car is paid for. Everything I own, it's paid for. The only bills I would have are the ones I choose to have such as satellite or cable t.v. or internet. I don't NEED those things.
I can get a "pay as you go" cell phone, I don't need a talk plan. I don't like talking on the phone, I don't care for texting, I use the phone only when I need to and I can do that with pay as you go. Therefore, no phone bill.
So I'd pay rent and electricity.
The rest, I choose what I'm going to add to my life and I've done without those things many times, it's easy for me to do without them again. (except internet, I am addicted to the internet but it also is a bit necessary towards a project I'm working on that may actually turn me in to my own boss...but that may not be within 6 months or a year...)
Gas is expensive, yes but our gas is also high, here. And I have to drive 28 miles just to get my mail so it's not like I don't know what to expect with gas prices.
In other words, no, this is not a time not to have a job however, if there is no water for us to run, there are no tourists to come in and put the money down, there's no job. And because of a perk, it means no home.
That is not my choice, that's a very real possibility of what is to come.
Like I said, find a new home and job in FL or find a new home and job in ME...sounds like the pickings are about the same with exception that actually, in some places, I'll have an easier time up there. Do I think it will be a cake walk? Absolutely not. Is it more doable than here? I think so. But don't misinterpret that to mean that I think it's going to be way easier, I just think it will be easier.
Without going in to a lot of detail, I will say that I think I'm about to lose my job. Some reasons are that the slow season is upon us and it's s-l-o-w. Meaning, it will be, based on how our so called "busy" season was this year.
The Glades, they are dry. One park down the road has closed for the time being because it's too dry to run. Another has about a week. We are hanging on by a thread.
The boss has been hiring all kinds of new people...all of the manager's friends and has been threatening others with their jobs, left and right.
Put all three together...I can see the writing on the wall...it's not good.
If this happens, I not only lose the job, I lose where I live. (It's a perk.) Which means I have to get a new job and new place to live.
I've been looking around in Maine for months on end, I know the area I want to live. Anywhere within a 50 mile radius to Bangor, really. This leaves a lot.
I'm having a terrible time finding places, reasonably priced, that allow dogs. I'm not terribly picky, I just want it under a certain price and allow my dogs.
I'm also of course looking for work but what I'm finding is, seems I have to be there to get the work. But I can't be there if I have no place to live. And how can I get a place to live without a job?
Catch-22.
"Stay in FL". Really, no. If I have to up and move, find another job, it's time to move, altogether.
I have some money saved up but not as much as I was working towards in a 5 year goal that is, I'm pretty confident, not going to happen because things are changing around here.
Miami's job market is horrendous. The housing prices are even worse than some of the crazy prices I've been seeing for some rentals in Maine. Some of them are asking as much as they would here in Miami. A lot of them are reasonable but again, "cat's ok, no dogs!" Or "no pets" or "dogs under 15 pounds"....sigh.
Everyone says, "get a job lined up first" and that is of course good advice...so how does one do that when they can't get the time off to interview?
As for housing, really, if it's under a certain price, I can have the pets, I'll take it and worry about finding something better, later.
I kinda need some help here...
I need some connections. I need people who have information about where to look.
I've done the Bangor Daily News, I've done rentvine, realrentals dot com, etc. I've looked until my eyes bled but surely there are other ways to find out what's out there? Someone who knows someone who is looking for a renter or an employee? I'm trying to network here, get a bit of help, prepare myself or, if it turns out I can find what I want, I'll just go ahead and get on up there.
I don't know if this is how Mainers do it...I don't know if I'm being too upfront or if I'm offending by asking...I just know that something is coming down the line and I want to be prepared, have something set up or, following the instinct, go ahead and make the change now before it's all come to fruition.
I think you might need to build a short term and long term strategic plan for yourself.. Sounds easy doesnt it
"if" you lose your job I have to believe you will have some unemployment coming??
Next if Maine is your goal and if what you say is true about needing to be here to land a job here then I think you might be a situation where you twist system a little bit.. use your unemployment to float your move..
I also think there might be an opportunity to get a seasonal job.. Knowing nothing about you that is..
seasonal employment will still be available and hiring has probably already begun..
just a few ideas to consider..
But if it was me and I had good inclination that I was going to lose my job I would start looking now for a new one and at least plan for what I will do if I lose it
I understand your points and I understand why you are saying them.
I'm also stating, Miami is darn near becoming the next Detroit, that's how bleak things are here.
If this happens, I will have to move and find a new job. Whether it's here or Maine, it's not going to be easy. I certainly do not have visions in my head of the perfect life up there. I do, however, know that in some ways, it will be better.
For example, though I prefer to rent a house, I cannot pass up the opportunity to rent an apartment, (that allows my dogs), because many of them pay for hw/heat/water/sewer/trash and I just pay electric. And the price of a nice place is cheaper than the crappiest place I can find here.
In other words, to start out, I will have to down step, that's not a problem for me. But I can actually go get a minimum wage job, (not that I want one and yes of course I have experience that deserves me more..but I'll take whatever because I work...it's something until you find something better), and still afford to live.
I don't have bills. My car is paid for. Everything I own, it's paid for. The only bills I would have are the ones I choose to have such as satellite or cable t.v. or internet. I don't NEED those things.
I can get a "pay as you go" cell phone, I don't need a talk plan. I don't like talking on the phone, I don't care for texting, I use the phone only when I need to and I can do that with pay as you go. Therefore, no phone bill.
So I'd pay rent and electricity.
The rest, I choose what I'm going to add to my life and I've done without those things many times, it's easy for me to do without them again. (except internet, I am addicted to the internet but it also is a bit necessary towards a project I'm working on that may actually turn me in to my own boss...but that may not be within 6 months or a year...)
Gas is expensive, yes but our gas is also high, here. And I have to drive 28 miles just to get my mail so it's not like I don't know what to expect with gas prices.
In other words, no, this is not a time not to have a job however, if there is no water for us to run, there are no tourists to come in and put the money down, there's no job. And because of a perk, it means no home.
That is not my choice, that's a very real possibility of what is to come.
Like I said, find a new home and job in FL or find a new home and job in ME...sounds like the pickings are about the same with exception that actually, in some places, I'll have an easier time up there. Do I think it will be a cake walk? Absolutely not. Is it more doable than here? I think so. But don't misinterpret that to mean that I think it's going to be way easier, I just think it will be easier.
My wife and I love it here, and I wish you success in moving to Maine. A couple of things we had to adjust to once we moved here are:
Spotty cell phone service. We gave up our cell phones because we have such poor coverage (i.e. none within a mile or two of our house). A lot of places here do not have broadband internet. It's getting better but we are still waiting in our corner of the County. I once thought TV was a luxury, but after this past winter, I'm not so sure. We have only one movie theater here and it is 20 miles away and open 4 days a week. It does have TWO screens and fairly recent movies however! We wouldn't trade life here for anything, though (except maybe a couple years down near Portland). Good luck and hope you will enjoy living here as much as we do.
If you are going to freeze and endure very cold winters anyway, then you should think about Montana. The unemployment rate there is very low and supposedly there are jobs so might be worth checking out their forum. Probably pretty dog friendly also I would think.
I just checked the Montana forum...looks like it's not so great there any more either, except in Billings. sorry, don't want to misinform.
Montana doesn't have a coast, so that's not going to work.
No, I am going to move to Maine.
I may have to start up somewhere that I wouldn't prefer but it's ok.
By the way, to try to explain why I know it would be a little easier there than here to find a job:
Do you have to be fluent in Spanish to get a minimum wage job up there? Do you have to be fluent in any other language than English?
Yes, I know knowing another language certainly HELPS you and can make you an asset to a company but is it REQUIRED?
(By the way, I say "minimum wage job" because it's what pretty much anyone should be able to get. Finding jobs that pay higher, in a field I'm knowledgeable in may take a bit longer...so we start with what we can find...even if it's flipping a fricken burger at McDs. Right?)
Montana doesn't have a coast, so that's not going to work.
No, I am going to move to Maine.
I may have to start up somewhere that I wouldn't prefer but it's ok.
By the way, to try to explain why I know it would be a little easier there than here to find a job:
Do you have to be fluent in Spanish to get a minimum wage job up there? Do you have to be fluent in any other language than English?
Yes, I know knowing another language certainly HELPS you and can make you an asset to a company but is it REQUIRED?
(By the way, I say "minimum wage job" because it's what pretty much anyone should be able to get. Finding jobs that pay higher, in a field I'm knowledgeable in may take a bit longer...so we start with what we can find...even if it's flipping a fricken burger at McDs. Right?)
A job at McDonald's won't pay the rent and fuel surcharges you'll face. You'll need two full time burger flippin' jobs to do that. I wish you well but you're not still getting the point. No you don't need Spanish to work in Maine but you do need a decent job OR TWO and they are scarce. If you come now you'll be able to get a seasonal job and hopefully you'll find something beyond that. If not you'll be doing something you no doubt won't like doing just to eat and feed the dogs. The dogs will be a problem with renting as we have discussed but one you can porbably work around. Who's going to watch them when you're working 60 hours at mimimum wage jobs to pay rent, electric, excise taxes, food clothing etc. It won't be a picnic. You really are not seeing the big picture here. There is no point in arguing with you and warning you about the bleak prospects for Maine in this economy since you're determined Maine is better than where you are now despite our observations to the contrary. You've made up your mind I see no point in discussing the subject further. Good luck in your move.
Minimum wage in Maine is 7.50 an hour. Most all the seasonal jobs in all regions are now full, as of this week, for sure. Taking into account everything except basic food and meds, it costs me a grand per month before I even get out of bed in the morning and pour a cup of coffee, and I own everything outright.
I might go and pick up the hundreds of cans and bottles tomorrow that I saw along the roadside up to East Outlet the other day.
GatorMama good luck in your journey. I wish I had some answers for you. My fingers are crossed that RHB will find a couple of leads that will help you out.
I have enough saved up that if I find the right priced place, I can live for about 6 months without worry. Surely I can find something to do in that 6 months.
I'm not in to welfare if I'm perfectly capable of working...I'll do what it takes before I take welfare. That's not particularly in my vocabulary. Hand outs are not what I'm looking for.
You might want to research North or South Dakota. One or both (I forget which, and also there might be a third state in that area where the unemployment rate is almost as low) has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, and the cost of living and of housing is excellent compared to the average wage. If I wanted a rural state where I could find work, I'd look into it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
